This is the second of the Charlie Berlin trilogy and lacks nothing in quality, style, or pace.

Another poignant cameo of Oz, awash with growing pains and very white. I like the progression of the main character as he tries to move on from his wartime experiences.

Full of brutality but managed in a very Australian way.

Gripping, can'y wait fo the next one.



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An enjoyable story set in the fifties....the good old days.... No mobile phones, no computers and so on. A good murder mystery, set in Melbourne, so I could relate to much of the book. Probably four stars because I could remember.........and perhaps wished I couldn't. ( )

The second instalment in the Charlie Berlin series. It's 1957, 10 years on from the events of The Diggers Rest Hotel, he is married to Rebecca and they have 2 children, but life is a struggle. But then the leg of the dead husband of an acquaintance goes missing from his coffin and Charlie has a mystery on his hands. As he investigates, things start to get nasty. Perhaps Charlie has got involved in something he cannot begin to understand and he will be lucky to come out alive as the bodies start to pile up.
The characters and places are richly imagined: crooked cops, shady characters from dark places, and a warm loving family. This is not your typical crime story, with lots of intrigue and secrets. It is well crafted and hard to put down. ( )

I picked this book to read for no other reason than it was an Australian book by an Australian author and I like reading Australian books by Australian authors. So I had no idea what to expect, which I like, and I was pleasantly surprised.

This book is set in 1957 Melbourne and is about Charlie Berlin, a Detective in the police who is asked a favour that ultimately leads him into government secrets that can never be revealed. The imagery created of suburban life in a post war world is enjoyable to read.

I really like this book. ( )

This is #2 in McGeachin's Charlie Berlin series and every bit as good as the first. It is set in 1957, 10 years after THE DIGGERS REST HOTEL; Charlie Berlin appears to be well established in the Victoria Police and working as a plain clothes detective out of Russell St. in Melbourne. The Olympics have been successfully held in Melbourne in 1956 and Australia is still reeling from the after effects, including having to accommodate Hungarian political refugees. The Australian government has agreed to allow British atomic scientists to carry out tests Maralinga near Woomera and the first were held just before the Olympics.

Charlie and his wife have a small family and now live in the Melbourne suburbs. At the beginning of the novel Charlie has been ordered to take some leave accrued during the Olympics. At the very beginning of his leave he gets sidetracked by a lying undertaker.

What I like about these novels is their feeling of historical authenticity and setting. I was a child in the 1950s and so many of the time markers McGeachin uses rang true for me: small things like Charlie polishing his children's shoes; the way the back yard is set up with the chook run and the vegetable plot; and the way his son Peter is storing up crackers for Bonfire Night under his bed. I think McGeachin is clever in his use of icons like these because it certainly gives the setting an appeal for my generation. I'm not sure it will work as well for an international audience.

McGeachin's style is laid-back and easy to read, Charlie Berlin's character is well developed, and his wife Rebecca is a good foil ( )